Vertically adjustable tray eor automobiles



May 10, 1949. J. w. LINDA ET AL' I VERTICALLY ADJUSTABLE TRAY FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Sept. 15, 1947 I INVENTORS John 76512? Linda 2 Y/GCK M 11 Z Hfiorheq flv Patented May 10, 1949 l J 'ohri'Wsley" Linda andJackMI Hill,

.ShafterfGitlif.

. -Applicationiseptemher 15,? 19417 ,--Serial:No. 77.4 000 4. Claims. l .Our...invention relates to .automobileraccesso- .ries and-more.particularlytoa tray adapted to be secured to the .loacl. -of1-a front :seat ofanautomobi1e, so that itmayser-vetas a; table .for any occupant 1 of; the-back seat of the automobile.

- An object :of our. invention is to provide a :tray .2 of; the. .charaoterzindicated=above,-which is of. extremely;1-simple and lovrzpriced construction.

.e-Another object/20f:FOHITZTlHVGI'ItiODISiSLLtOUprOVide ea .trawofsthe character indicated abovemhichv is uadaptedato beeinstalledintanwmake of car'having e Ea front. seat..eq.uipped:v.zitl iaback-T anda reanseat.

A further. object;ofourzinvention is to provide -a tnayszof ;;the: character; indicated :above (which is adaptedazto'xbe installed :zeasily 'without. requiring r;anyespecialmechanicaliskill.

5A still afurther objectof our invention' is to :prostride; a 'ttray, of I jtheazcharacter indicated above, .tadapted to be-folded into and outof working position; so that it'does not incommode any occupants -01- the rear seat.

Another obj ect of our invention is to provide a tray, of the "character indicated above,'--adapted to be adjusted as to'height;so that itmay be used -by' children or-adults.

i Still another: object of our invention is to provide a trayof the -character indicated above, which *is' adapted to "be adjusted *in' a horizontal =level-position if the automobile should be" parked on an inclined surface. 1

Afurtheriobject of our? invention is to provide a tray of thecharacter'indicated above which is adapted to bemremoved iromthecar without the use of any tool.

Another object of our invention is tmprovide a tray of the character indicated above, which does not require the use of-legsor braces to hold it in adjusted level position.

A"-f-urther object of ourinvention is toprovide a "tray of the. characterindicatedabove, which is T self -locl ingtin'inoperative' position.

'L'OtheF'Objeots of our invention; maysappear. in :I'the following specificationdescribing ourlinven- :tion:with"reference to the accompanyingIdraw- Zing illustrating a preferred"embodimentof our jinvention.

liItis' however, to be understood, that. our .in-

;vention" is not to be'limited or. restrictedpto the exact. construction and combination ofparts de- .-..scfib.edj.in the specification .and shown irinithe drawing, but that such changes and modifications can be made which fall within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

In the several figures of the drawing similar L 2 parts are designated by similar referencejcharac- .itersand Eigure. 1 isa-view partly insection and, partly in elevation illustrating astray constructedjn ac- 5 cordance. with an embodiment. of. the invention; SFigure .2. is; ;.a 4 view imperspective. of lthe... tray ;.p1ate.11napplied sFigurei 3:15 a viewinperspective of the-frameas herein embodied;

" ,EigureA iswan. enlargedwfragmentary.view in perspectivept a .lock; finger. :as herein included; vand Figure; 5-is. an elevational view:of Figure 1.with r-ithetr am plate inclosedposition.

.Thehtray forming thesubj ect .matter. vof.our..inventioncomprises. adnetal .iramea, havinga substantially rectangular...shape. The longitudinal smembers Ifland thetransverse members I l=-formingsaid. frame..-a.have.- each. an inwardly.v projecting flange 12 and I3 respectively, .and these "flanges extend-at right angles .to. the -.cor.respcndv.ingframemembers.

holes Ids-care .provided for a-spurpose to -beadesscribed.later.

.-A.short d-istancerinwardly from each :transverse frame member H, a corrugated slide l.5:.is\ secured toatheelongitudinal frame-memberswl fl', so

that. the. curvatures of. the corrugations oft said slideslextend in, inward and outward direction of asaid trameta-ndthat eachslide I 5. runs substan- .-tially parallel to F he adjacent transverse frame member ll.

Thenabove [described frame az-is secured to. the rear-:ofithe backr-tfiqof a-seat of-an:automobile.by emeansn-of a--. plurality .-of screws 'll extending v through the :holes I 4;-in the frame flanges 1 Land .43 rand;threadably:-engaging. the=backof the:.-autoz'mobile seat.

whenithe frame a-is- -secured to the-seat-ba-ck, the longitudinal :frame members l 8 are: arranged z 'substantially uhorizon-tally :and the :-:transverse iframe. members? I I and the corrugated slides'wl 5 arera'rrangedr substantially vertioally.

.ThB, insider-lengthvofa'thez rectanuglar frameea axis shorter .zthanwtheriinsidea diagonals: of 1 the :recutangle-t formedeby: the longitudinal: frame :-;memnberssl 0-, andthe corrugated slides 1| 5.

,1 A tray. .1 comprises; a. tray. plate 8 .being'rsub- 50... stantially rectangular and fitting snugly intothe .iltrame 15a. 1 0n a the ...;upper s'su-rface of. the .:tray

splate :IB ginucach of; the: iorwardnorners :thereof,

a self-locking fitting plate 0 is secured, for instance by welding, and each fitting is provided 55 in its 1atera1 edge with a cut-out l9 forming a lock finger 20 extending forwardly beyond the front edge of the tray plate 18. The lateral edge of each fitting c coincides with the corresponding lateral edge of the tray plate.

The tray 12 is mounted slidably in the frame a by tilting the tray so that it is located diagonally to the frame and the fingers 20 can slide through the rectangle formed by the longitudinal frame members 10 and the corrugated slides l5. The tray 1) is then arranged in approximately horizontal position, so that the fingers 20 are located in front of the slides l and the latter are located in the corresponding cut-outs 19.

The tray is then adapted to be slidably moved upwardly and downwardly along the slides l5 and to be secured at any desired level by swinging the tray plate 18 downwardly, so that the lock-fingers 20 abut the corrugation located right above each finger and the tray rests with its forward edge in and against the corrugation located just below the corrugation engaged by the finger.

Adjacent to the rear edge of the tray plate 18 a pair of leather tabs 2! or the like is secured to the lower surface of said plate.

To remove the tray plate out of working position, which is described above, it is slid all the way down on the slides l5 and is then pivoted upwardly by means of the tabs 2| about the fingers 20.

To secure the tray plate in closed or idle position, a rubber block 22 is arranged in each lower corner of the frame a, so that it engages the corresponding lock finger 20 when the tray is in its lowermost position. When the tray is pivoted into upright idle position it is forced downwardly at the same time, compressing the rubber blocks 22, so that the tray can be pivoted into the frame a. The upward pressure exerted by the rubber blocks against the tray 5 secures it in upright idle position.

When an automobile equipped with the tray described above is parked on an inclined surface, so that one side of the auto is located lower than the other one, the tray 1) can be adjusted in a substantially horizontal position, by sliding the lower side of the tray upwardly on the corresponding corrugated slide.

For cleaning purposes, the tray may be removed from the frame a by arranging the tray diagonally to the rectangle formed by the longitudinal frame members and the corrugated slides [5, so that the lock fingers 20 are disengaged from the corrugations.

Having described our invention we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. An adjustably supported tray, comprising two long, transversely corrugated slides arranged uprightly in spaced parallel relation, a tray plate, a self locking support fitting secured in each of two corners of the tray plate adjacent to a lateral and transverse edge thereof, the lateral edge of each fitting coinciding with the lateral edge of the tray plate, each fitting being provided with a cut-out in its lateral edge forming a'lock finger disposed forwardly beyond the adjacent transverse edge of the tray plate, the said slides each being located in a cut-out, the lock fingers engaging the corrugations just above said fingers and adjacent transverse edge of the plate resting on the corrugation just below said plate.

2. An adjustably supported tray structure comprising two long straight strips of material transversely corrugated through their lengths, means supporting the strips in spaced, parallel, edge opposed relation, a tray plate having one longitudinal edge of a length to more than span the space between the strips whereby said edge may position against the corrugated faces of the strips, and a support fitting secured to the tray at each end of said edge and comprising an upstanding plate having a slot formed therein from one edge to provide a finger directed lengthwise of said edge, the fingers being positioned for engagement across the strips upon the opposite sides thereof from said plate edge with the strips lying in the slots.

3. An adjustably supported tray structure of the character described in claim 2, wherein the said fingers extend away from one another each toward an end edge of the tray whereby said tray may be coupled with the corrugated strips by being disposed with the said longitudinal edge thereof at an inclination to the lengths of the strips whereby the fingers may be readily disposed across the sides of the strips opposite from the said longitudinal edge of the plate.

4. An adjustably supported tray comprising a frame, two long, transversely corrugated slide strips arranged uprightly in said frame in spaced parallel relation, said frame having a depending flange along the top thereof, a tray plate, a selflccking sup-port fitting secured to each of two forward corners of the tray plate adjacent to a lateral and transverse edge thereof, the lateral edge of each fitting coinciding with the lateral edge of the tray plate, each fitting being provided with a cut-out in its lateral edge forming a lock finger disposed forwardly beyond the adjacent transverse edge of the tray plate, the said transverse edge of the tray plate being adapted to position against the corrugated faces of the slides with the slides engaged in the cut-outs, the lock fingers engaging the corrugations just above said fingers and the front edge of the plate resting on the corrugation just below said plate, and a pair of rubber blocks secured in the frame in the lower part thereof and adapted to be engaged by the said transverse edge of the tray plate to urge the tray plate upwardly after it has been disposed in closed position within the frame to effect engagement of the opposite transverse edge of the tray plate behind said depending flange.

JOHN WESLEY LINDA. JACK M. HILL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 554,661 Doolittle Feb. 18, 1896 621,856 Schwarz Mar. 28, 1899 907,501 Jarrett Dec. 22, 1908 1,546,768 West July 21, 1925 1,738,535 McGuinley Dec. 10, 1929 1,893,548 Tatum Jan. 3, 1933 1,925,523 Cuff et a1. Sept. 5, 1933 2,098,426 McDonald Nov. 9, 1937 2,168,210 Hawksley Aug. 1, 1939 2,249,287 Gearheart et al July 15, 1941 2,284,811 Ferrelle June 2, 1942 2,437,162 Keller Mar. 2, 1948 

